[SI] Filters comments

As the images all seem to be in I'll add a few comments for the images.
If I left you out it's 'cause I have nothing to say about your image.

Cross-Screen- MJ Wylie.
http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/113495747
A somewhat 'classic' use of this filter. I would have cropped this down
to be only the crosses with the stacks on the right and the two lights
immed. to the left to really emphasize the light pattern against the
stacks. Crop out most of the dead space too. Nice color flares (blue)
in the beams of light. More editing needed, IMO to really bring out the
punch available in the image.

FILTERS_Tim_Conway_old
http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/113495748
I don't mind the "ill reputed" tobacco filter so much as the muted
foreground look. Perhaps a wider angle and closer stance to the haybale
while including more sky would have strengthened this - sort of along
the dreaded tool-of-thirds ratio. Did you scan this from the film or
the print? Did you try popping the greens just a little or enhancing
the blacks to let the muted greens glow through?

Bret's blues
http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/113495749
Possibly the most striking image of this SI due to the blue on black
contrasts. The whole is emphasized by a seeming glow in Bret's eyes and
the deadpan (damn near dead look) on his face (maybe he's looking at his
chequing account balance?). There is a sense of depth in this image
created by the angle of the bench and the position of the sitter and the
rock on the right BG. A good image is one that keeps your eyes busy -
this qualifies in spades.

Paul Furman boat mast.
http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/113495750
I really like this image as it is has a strong and purposeful naval
look. The raked mast with the radars and mass of antennas means mission
and the silhouette speaks of an early morning departure on an serious
objective (like beer drinking and girl watching). The city background
speaks of a coastal harbor... I'm hesitant too guess what filter is
being used? A grad tilted to the side perhaps? Strong image in any case.

Paul Furman Steeple
http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/113495751
I don't like this one at all... again I'm not sure what filter you're
using here, but the strong burnout around the steeple (?) totally sucks
the life out of the image (and the posterized gradients do not help).

Savageduck - red sky
http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/113495752
This image has a lot of punch in the sky from the red filter but I can't
help but think it would be a stronger image without the fence in front
and like Paul's boat mainly focused on the silhouette.

Calvin Sambrook
http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/113495753
Other than a nice color palette, there doesn't seem to be much "there"
there in this shot. Orange blob at bottom should have been cropped (or
cheated) out.

Alan Browne
http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/113495754
This shot was made as a two-exposure-in-one with 1/8s ISO 100 (error in
the text I gave Bowser) of the reflection plus the flash from underneath
to color up the filters a bit (otherwise washed out from the outside
light). A pop of flash from the right to give some highlights and edge
light the resin filters. I didn't set out to do this but as I was
setting up for the other shots noticed the reflection. I thought the
leaves slightly OOF complemented the hard filters in an interesting way,
perhaps bringing an idea of effect to the 'product'.

Alan Browne
http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/113495755
Once of the test shots that turned out to look interesting to me (and
moreso to Matt). I particularly like the way the blue saturates in the
dark part of the ND grad...

Alan Browne
http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/113495756
Really more what I set out to do with this mandate. I don't use effect
filters much. The red one I used over a couple rolls of B&W many years
ago and since has been in more photos that it has taken. The blue and
magenta moreso. Anyway the fun of a light table is a fairly even white
(this is just a glass topped breakfast table with a softbox underneath)
backlight and using top lights as needed for fill and high lights.
Tripod, flash and somewhat small aperture give things a crisp look.

NOTE: all three of the images above were with a Hasselblad lens mounted
to a Sony a900 body. To date, some great results.

Chez Bowser
http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/113495757
I like the composition but the use of these texture filters in PS leaves
me pretty cold.

Bowswer IR treehouse
http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/113495758
Just too cluttered a shot to be interesting.

Bowser seascape
http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/113495759
The effect on the treeline at right is bizarre and the general effect is
quite weird. I think that filter is better used for a lot more specular
scenes.

Tony Cooper
http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/113495760
WRT the theme the only thing going for this photo is the subject's
colour separates it from the rest of the image. Other than that not
much to look at.

Tony Cooper
http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/113495761
Cluttered shot. The monochrome treatment goes along with the supposed
age of the vehicle, but like the prior shot, not ....

Tony Cooper
http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/113495762
Some notion of the filter somehow providing clean air so the flower can
thrive? In a less cluttered shot, using a ring to backframe the subject
would probably work very well. The richness of the red almost
overpowers the violet.

Bob Flint
http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/113495763
Very strange image, pls explain it. Too busy, little structure.

Other Bob Flints. I really don't like PS 'artsy' filters so didn't
spend any time on them.

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-- [SI] gallery & rulz: http://www.pbase.com/shootin
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On Thu, 11 Jun 2009 18:05:11 -0400, Alan Browne
wrote:

Tony Cooper
http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/113495762
Some notion of the filter somehow providing clean air so the flower can
thrive? In a less cluttered shot, using a ring to backframe the subject
would probably work very well. The richness of the red almost
overpowers the violet.

All of those shots were taken with the object in situ. The air filter
was on the ground in a cluttered salvage yard and I didn't move it.
The red is the oxidized original color.

However, your comments on all three of mine are appropriate. As
compositions, they are not that interesting. The best that I can
claim is that the first two were cropped to maximize the shots.


--
Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida

"Alan Browne" wrote in message
...
As the images all seem to be in I'll add a few comments for the images. If
I left you out it's 'cause I have nothing to say about your image.


Chez Bowser
http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/113495757
I like the composition but the use of these texture filters in PS leaves
me pretty cold.

Maybe I should have submitted this one? http://www.manzi.org/pix/glass.jpg


Bowswer IR treehouse
http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/113495758
Just too cluttered a shot to be interesting.

OK, I'll take down the tree house. But I'm keeping the IR stuff.


Bowser seascape
http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/113495759
The effect on the treeline at right is bizarre and the general effect is
quite weird. I think that filter is better used for a lot more specular
scenes.

Well, all I can say is I liked it best of my three. Now I need to get a
dictionary and look up 'specular.'

But I generally agree with most of what you said, even though viewing and
deciding is very subjective.

On 11-06-09 19:44, Bowser wrote:

"Alan Browne" wrote in message
...
As the images all seem to be in I'll add a few comments for the
images. If I left you out it's 'cause I have nothing to say about your
image.


Chez Bowser
http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/113495757
I like the composition but the use of these texture filters in PS
leaves me pretty cold.

Maybe I should have submitted this one? http://www.manzi.org/pix/glass.jpg

Impressionism in the American Mall, ca. 2009?

Actually it does have great colours and sense of depth...



Bowswer IR treehouse
http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/113495758
Just too cluttered a shot to be interesting.

OK, I'll take down the tree house. But I'm keeping the IR stuff.


Bowser seascape
http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/113495759
The effect on the treeline at right is bizarre and the general effect
is quite weird. I think that filter is better used for a lot more
specular scenes.

Well, all I can say is I liked it best of my three. Now I need to get a
dictionary and look up 'specular.'

But I generally agree with most of what you said, even though viewing
and deciding is very subjective.

These effect filters in PS generally turn me off, though I did use the
diffuse glow to spice up an otherwise ordinary snapshot...
SI version: http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/30857422
my version: http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=642269

--
-- r.p.e.35mm user resource: http://www.aliasimages.com/rpe35mmur.htm
-- r.p.d.slr-systems: http://www.aliasimages.com/rpdslrsysur.htm
-- [SI] gallery & rulz: http://www.pbase.com/shootin
-- e-meil: Remove FreeLunch.
-- usenet posts from gmail.com and googlemail.com are filtered out.

On Thu, 11 Jun 2009 18:05:11 -0400, Alan Browne
wrote:


Bob Flint
http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/113495763
Very strange image, pls explain it. Too busy, little structure.


The original is here, for comparison.

http://www.pbase.com/flintstonestudio/my_nikon_d90


I like this -shrink wrap- effect, from Micrographics Lightstudio... yes it is a
very busy image! I may have overdone the effect...

The best images to use with it are landscapes, they look just like cheap plastic
lunch boxes.

Other Bob Flints. I really don't like PS 'artsy' filters so didn't
spend any time on them.

Don't blame you, I only use them for examples!

The only 'real' filters I own are close-up, UV, and a yellow filter for B/W film
and a blue one for using photo floods with Ektachrome...

Thanks for your critique.

"Alan Browne" wrote in message
...

Calvin Sambrook
http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/113495753
Other than a nice color palette, there doesn't seem to be much "there"
there in this shot. Orange blob at bottom should have been cropped (or
cheated) out.

I worried about the lack of an obvious subject so I agree with you there.
As for the orange blob, I didn't even see it but then I am colour blind so
colours don't jump out at me like they do for others! (we are talking about
the small orange circle at the bottom centre aren't we?).

This is an example of shooting for the mandate. It's not a photo I'd have
made without the mandate and in that sense it's a bit contrived. The
original is a quite a bit wider and includes non-relected bits of the scene
but I cropped down to just the reflections in order to get the ripple effect
in the way PS gives it. Sort of to compare PS "filters" with real effects.
Didn't really work.


Alan Browne
http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/113495754
This shot was made as a two-exposure-in-one with 1/8s ISO 100 (error in
the text I gave Bowser) of the reflection plus the flash from underneath
to color up the filters a bit (otherwise washed out from the outside
light). A pop of flash from the right to give some highlights and edge
light the resin filters. I didn't set out to do this but as I was setting
up for the other shots noticed the reflection. I thought the leaves
slightly OOF complemented the hard filters in an interesting way, perhaps
bringing an idea of effect to the 'product'.

Alan Browne
http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/113495755
Once of the test shots that turned out to look interesting to me (and
moreso to Matt). I particularly like the way the blue saturates in the
dark part of the ND grad...

Alan Browne
http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/113495756
Really more what I set out to do with this mandate. I don't use effect
filters much. The red one I used over a couple rolls of B&W many years
ago and since has been in more photos that it has taken. The blue and
magenta moreso. Anyway the fun of a light table is a fairly even white
(this is just a glass topped breakfast table with a softbox underneath)
backlight and using top lights as needed for fill and high lights. Tripod,
flash and somewhat small aperture give things a crisp look.

NOTE: all three of the images above were with a Hasselblad lens mounted to
a Sony a900 body. To date, some great results.


Initially I dismissed all three of these shots as being too obvious but the
more I've gone back to the mandate page the more they've caught my eye.
They really are well lit and shot 3 in particular has a lot of visual
interest if you study it, I like the way the colour of the top right filter
is modified by the glass.

Lighting is one of the areas I know I'm weak on so I have lots to learn from
the explainations you give of how you set your shots up, thanks.

Alan Browne wrote:
On 11-06-09 19:44, Bowser wrote:

"Alan Browne" wrote in message
...
As the images all seem to be in I'll add a few comments for the
images. If I left you out it's 'cause I have nothing to say about your
image.


Chez Bowser
http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/113495757
I like the composition but the use of these texture filters in PS
leaves me pretty cold.

Maybe I should have submitted this one?
http://www.manzi.org/pix/glass.jpg

Impressionism in the American Mall, ca. 2009?

Actually it does have great colours and sense of depth...

It's the lobby of the Pallazo in Las Vegas in between that hotel and the
Venetian. They had an umbrella display so I grabbed a couple of shots.
Then I applied the "glass" filter in PS.




Bowswer IR treehouse
http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/113495758
Just too cluttered a shot to be interesting.

OK, I'll take down the tree house. But I'm keeping the IR stuff.


Bowser seascape
http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/113495759
The effect on the treeline at right is bizarre and the general effect
is quite weird. I think that filter is better used for a lot more
specular scenes.

Well, all I can say is I liked it best of my three. Now I need to get a
dictionary and look up 'specular.'

But I generally agree with most of what you said, even though viewing
and deciding is very subjective.

These effect filters in PS generally turn me off, though I did use the
diffuse glow to spice up an otherwise ordinary snapshot...
SI version: http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/30857422
my version: http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=642269

"Alan Browne" wrote in message
...
As the images all seem to be in I'll add a few comments for the images. If
I left you out it's 'cause I have nothing to say about your image.
FILTERS_Tim_Conway_old
http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/113495748
I don't mind the "ill reputed" tobacco filter so much as the muted
foreground look. Perhaps a wider angle and closer stance to the haybale
while including more sky would have strengthened this - sort of along the
dreaded tool-of-thirds ratio. Did you scan this from the film or the
print? Did you try popping the greens just a little or enhancing the
blacks to let the muted greens glow through?

I like the look, though. It was a really hazy day and I think it captures
it.
It's from a Photo CD that was scanned from a print IIRC. I'll play a little
in PS with it. I agree about the wider angle. Thanks for reviewing.
tim